Sunday, October 23, 2011

Sens Not Alone In Arena Fails

Yes, the antiquated and barely functioning scoreboard clock at Scotiabank Place is a local eyesore, but remember, it could always be worse. It could look like this:

This is what the scoreboard inside the Marine Midland Arena (now the First Niagara Centre, home of the Buffalo Sabres) looked like on November 16, 1996 after it fell from the rafters not long after the Sabres had finished practice for the day. Luckily no one was killed.

Cries for a new scoreboard have reached fever pitch in Ottawa, especially with the All-Star game in the building this year and early problems with the clock which has crapped out in at least two home games so far. It was basically inoperable for much of the third period in last night's game against Columbus and rink announcer Stuntman Stu had to keep announcing how much time was left. Yet the Senators organization refuse to say if and when a new one will be purchased and installed, leaving them open to all the wisecracks they deserve.

If they have concrete plans to replace it, why not just tell the fans that? They'll be much more patient and understanding if they know a new one is on the way. Right now, it's a closely guarded secret and I can't fathom why.

Meanwhile, fans grasp at made-up rumours and columnists take pot shots at the organization. It's a relatively small issue that is getting blown out of proportion and the team let it get that way by being more secretive than the people in charge of the Winnipeg Jets, who operate that club more like a cult than a pro sports franchise.

But at least the Senators eschew gimmicks like oil derrick's, which got stuck dangling over the Edmonton Oilers bench during a game last week and hung there during game action.

Oilers defenseman Ryan Whitney talked to Postmedia reporter Joanne Ireland and said "That was like a scene out of a movie. Like Final Destination."

Luckily for the Senators, they have also never had a mascot set himself on fire in front of thousands of horrified children. So they have that going for them.

8 comments:

The scoreboard is an embarassment.MEndes has a tongue-in-cheek column, "Spezza for a scoreboard" and I was half-inclined to do the trade. Get Spezza's 7 million off the boaks, use it for a HD/3-D scoreboard, fall in the standings and draft a dynamic centre that will be paid on the cheap for 3 years, then a little more money, then a little more but that you can trade.

Stuck with Spezza for the foreseeable future, however...but he's producing points against bad teams, so that's something (check the stat line, one point iirc against Philly, none against WSH, few if any against COL, multi-point against WPG and CLB). Cherry picking, thy name is Spezza.

"Stuck with Spezza for the foreseeable future, however...but he's producing points against bad teams, so that's something (check the stat line, one point iirc against Philly, none against WSH, few if any against COL, multi-point against WPG and CLB). Cherry picking, thy name is Spezza."

Can you explain exactly what's wrong with the current scoreboard (screen failure, aside)? Is it because the screen completely fails, or is more than that? If it's just the failures, then I would think that they could fix that more cheaply than replacement.

Adam, it's the age of the board, the small non-HD video screens, the fact it barely works and much nicer boards across the league that Ottawa fans look at with envy. Even the team has admitted the board is terrible and most believe a new one will be installed before the All-Star game but that's not official yet.